Hydraulic system having load sensing capabilities

A hydraulic system comprising:

• a digital valve operable to fluidly connect a hydraulic load to a pressure supply;
• an orifice disposed in a flow path between the hydraulic load and the digital valve;
• and
• a digital controller operably connected to the digital valve, the digital controller storing a target pressure drop across the orifice, the digital controller configured to determine an actual pressure drop across the orifice and formulate a control signal based on the target pressure drop and the actual pressure drop, the controller transmitting the control signal to the digital valve for controlling the operation of the valve;
• wherein the orifice includes a variable cross-sectional flow area that is adjustable to selectively vary the rate at which pressurized fluid is delivered to the hydraulic load, the controller configured to monitor the pressure drop across the orifice as the cross-sectional flow area is adjusted and modify the control signal to maintain the pressure drop across the orifice within a selected tolerance range of the target pressure drop.